Planning a Big Year? We've Got a Few Small Suggestions

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Nobody does New Year’s resolutions like tiny-house dwellers—they know all about how even small changes can have major impact. If you’re looking to shake things up this January, tune in to a block of all-new tiny house specials on HGTV January 1, and take a page from their (itty-bitty) books.

There’s always room for fancy.

As you'll see on Mighty Tiny Houses, this miniscule silo on the Santarella Estate in Framingham, Mass.—one of the oldest tiny houses around—boasts a canopy bed that’d steal the show in any bedroom. The life lesson therein? Minimalism is lovely if it’s your thing, but you don’t have to force yourself into it. Hang a chandelier in the bathroom. Wear those New Year’s Eve sequins for the next twelve months.

Have people over. They’ll fit. It will be great.

Mighty Tiny Houses hosts Jenna Spesard and Guillaume Dutilh crowned this space the Best Party Tiny House, and it’s hard to imagine a group of guests that wouldn’t find it charming as hell. You don’t need to have a six-bedroom house, a cavernous loft or even multiple chairs to throw a good party. Make a space—any space—gracious and you’re golden, you studio-apartment-dweller. No "I-can't-host" excuses this year.

YOU can go tiny.

OK, so you and your family aren’t looking to go small for the long haul. You can still try the lifestyle on for size at Caravan, a tiny-house hotel in Portland, Ore. Each tiny house has flush toilets, a hot shower, heat, a sitting area and a kitchen, with just 170 square feet or less. Give it a night—who knows what you’ll learn?

You could be a bit greener.

Yes, tiny-house dwellers have an easier time going off the grid than many of us would. That said, each of their adaptations takes up a disproportionate amount of space—and if they can, say, cover entire roofs with solar panels, surely the rest of us can look into installing one or two.

Face foul weather with a smile.

This custom rain gutter, installed on a dwelling at the second annual Tiny House Jamboree, actually plays music when the skies open. How’s that for a lesson in embracing adversity?